Erling Haaland Manchester City 2022-23Getty Images

21 touches for Haaland! Winners, losers & ratings as Man City's machine breaks down against Brentford to open the door for Arsenal

This wasn't meant to happen. Manchester City were expected to cruise to victory against Brentford in their final match before the World Cup, but instead they've left the door wide open for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.

Erling Haaland hardly touched the ball as Brentford's centre-backs had a comfortable afternoon against the usually ruthless Norwegian machine, who was clearly missing a cog or two in his first start since late October.

To be fair, the warning signs were there early doors. After missing two chances inside the opening 10 minutes, Ivan Toney struck. Snubbed by Gareth Southgate and with a point to prove, the Brentford forward caused problems for the City defence all afternoon and would add a second to claim a historic win for Thomas Frank and his troops.

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Sixteen of City's megastars will now head to Qatar, although they won't be going there with a beaming smile. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance from Guardiola's side, who could now have five points to make up when the season gets back underway.

Here's GOAL's winners, losers and ratings from an utterly miserable afternoon for the Premier League champions.

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